Today's Liberal News
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
Trump’s approval holds steady despite unpopular policies, per new NYT poll
Trump’s strength with Republicans on the economy could prove to be a boon for the GOP.
New poll reveals warning signs for Trump with Latino voters
A survey from the liberal-leaning group Somos Votantes shows Latino voters are souring on the president.
Trump is selling a strong economy. Voters aren’t buying it.
Privately, aides concede voters remain uneasy about prices but argue their policies are beginning to turn things around.
Why the ‘No Kings’ Protests Matter
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Say what you will about Donald Trump’s effect on American civic life as a whole, but he’s done wonders for public participation. Voter turnout in the past few elections has reached record highs, for example.
This Is Just the Internet Now
The prompts read like tiny, abstract poems.
“A brutal storm off the coastal cliff. The clouds are formed into tubular formations and lightning strikes are never ending.”
I scroll; another appears:
“A male figure formed of gentle fire, his outline glowing with soft embers, approaches a female figure shaped from flowing water, her form glistening with ripples and fine mist. They move toward one another with calm grace, meeting in a warm embrace.
ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits
President Donald Trump’s plan to double the size of the ICE workforce has met a foe more powerful than any activist group. It is decimating new recruits at the agency’s training academy in Georgia. It is the ICE personal-fitness test.
More than a third have failed so far, four officials told me, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 deportation officers by January. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
Today’s Atlantic Trivia
In the 1950s, the TV quiz show Twenty-One stumbled upon a viewership-boosting strategy that for a brief period of time would be all the rage: cheating. The program fixed winners and losers, coached contestants, and generally dabbled in malfeasance. Other shows followed suit, scandal ensued, and Congress—Congress!—got involved.
Why Trump Turned to the Sewer
Lieutenant Colonel Harald Jäger was in charge of a Berlin Wall checkpoint on the evening of November 9, 1989, when a garbled televised press conference convinced thousands of East Berliners that they were allowed to cross into West Germany. People ran to the checkpoint. They started shouting at Jäger, telling him to open the barrier, even though no one had told him about any changes.
ICE is hiring dozens of health workers as lawsuits, deaths in custody mount
Nearly as many migrants have died in detention so far this year than over the four years of the Biden administration.
“This Is Ethnic Cleansing”: Civil Rights Icon Dolores Huerta Decries Trump’s Targeting of Immigrants
Immigrant rights and labor icon Dolores Huerta, now 95 years old, is continuing her lifelong activism as immigration raids intensify across the country. She addressed the No Kings rally in Watsonville, California, this weekend to speak out against the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. “This is ethnic cleansing,” Huerta tells Democracy Now! “We have never seen such horrific, horrific attacks on our people.
No to Authoritarianism: 7 Million Rally Across U.S. in Historic No Kings Day Protests
An estimated 7 million people took part in No Kings rallies Saturday to protest President Trump’s authoritarian policies. Organizers say protests were held at about 2,600 sites across all 50 states in what was one of the largest days of protest in U.S. history, surpassing the first No Kings day of action in June. One of the biggest mobilizations was in Washington, D.C., where Trump has fired thousands of federal workers and sent in National Guard troops to patrol the streets.
The Forgotten Captives: Israel Still Imprisoning 9,000 Palestinians Even After Hostage Deal
“Even after having released almost 2,000 people last week, the Israeli military is still holding about 9,000 Palestinians, in what it calls security prisoners or detainees,” says Sari Bashi, an Israeli American human rights lawyer and former program director at Human Rights Watch. “Only about a thousand of them have actually been convicted of any crime. The vast majority of people being held are being held without trial.
“The War Has Not Really Ended”: Gaza Reporter on Israeli Attacks & Reuniting with Imprisoned Brother
We speak with Al Jazeera reporter Ibrahim al-Khalili in Gaza, where the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to be holding despite sporadic violence. Gaza officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly violated the agreement, including when they opened fire on a civilian bus, killing 11 members of a Palestinian family attempting to return home in Gaza City.
Where Are the Credit Cockroaches Hiding?
Are the “cockroaches” Jamie Dimon spoke of really a private credit problem or are they a bit closer to home?
Michigan Might Have Just Crushed One of Its Most Successful Industries
It may only be the beginning of a wider crackdown for the Wolverine State’s marijuana industry.
This Issue Causes $1 Billion of Damage Each Year. Nobody Is Talking About It.
Next week’s rain might be the start of a sinkhole near you.
This Gross Practice Might Make Your Next Home Search Even More Annoying
Bot-made listings are forcing homebuyers and professionals to ask themselves if this is a straight-up deceptive practice.
Donald Trump’s Reaction to His New, Fawning Time Cover Tells Us One Thing for Absolutely Sure
“Deserves to be called out,” says the president of the United States about a fawning magazine cover.
Meet the man who built RFK Jr.’s kitchen cabinet
Jeffrey Tucker, who elevated Covid contrarians now working for the health secretary, is building support for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Trump unveils IVF policies, but no new funding or coverage requirements
The moves, to lower the cost of a drug prescribed to women going through IVF and boost employer coverage, follow Trump’s campaign promise to make fertility care more accessible.
It’s ‘too late’ to extend ACA subsidies without major disruptions, some states and lawmakers say
States are worried Congress missed its opportunity to extend enhanced ACA subsidies and lower premiums before consumers start picking plans in a few weeks.
Hospital-at-home program collateral damage of the shutdown
The budget stalemate is forcing some hospitals to withdraw from a successful Medicare program that allows seriously ill patients to be treated at home.
Photos: More ‘No Kings’ Protests Across the U.S.
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on October 19, 2025
Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty
A person dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume participates in a “No Kings” national day of protest in New York on October 18, 2025.Alyssa Pointer / Reuters
People attend a “No Kings” protest against American President Donald Trump’s policies, in Atlanta on October 18, 2025.Alyssa Pointer / Reuters
A person looks on during the “No Kings” protest in Atlanta on October 18, 2025.
Why an Out Queer Person in the Gay Liberation Days of the ’70s Would Go To Church
Troy Perry starts the gay/lesbian Metropolitan Community Church. A young lesbian is a regular at the San Francisco congregation when her friend gets sick.
How an LGBTQ+ Christian Church Faced AIDS in 1980s and ’90s San Francisco.
Rescued archival audio takes listeners into the heart of an LGBTQ+ church during the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s and ’90s San Francisco.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.